Day 17: The Best Way To Increase Both Engagement & Wellbeing at Workplaces
Companies want to increase workers engagement at workplaces as it’s directly connected to performance. Engagement is composed of two parts: Connection & Commitment. Basically, if people feel strongly connected with others at work, they feel naturally more committed to work better for the collective purpose. When there is a high quality connection and high quality commitment among people at workplaces, it naturally increases the sense of wellbeing, too.
So, if you are trying to increase both engagement & wellbeing in your organization, here’s the best way to get started: ERG
ERG stands for Employee Resource Group, grassroots community led by employees. It becomes a safe space for people to meet with like-minded others and develop community around shared traits and needs for personal growth. This naturally creates psychological safety with high quality connection. ERGs also provide inherent value to organizations small and large — increasing employee retention, providing opportunity for professional development or boosting recruitment efforts. They are a win-win for both the workers and the organizations. Here are three important principles for ERGs.
- ERG as an Executive Agenda: Workers should feel free to join or create ERGs and encouraged to participate in it during work hours. This should be a part of an executive agenda so that there is a general consensus across the entire organization.
- Systems for ERG: Provide budget for ERG and guidelines on how to spend it. The budget doesn’t have to cover every expense of ERG but just minimum to support activities each ERG plans to do.
- Support, Not Manage: Organizations should not manage ERGs but encourage workers to manage ERGs. They can support them with resources by connecting with ERG leaders on a regular basis.
With these 3 principles, ERG will become the cultural backbone for high engagement and wellbeing at workplaces. Try it!
